Secure credentials control method

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, and systems are provided to secure access to an account of a user. The account may have a system administrator. The user may have a credential for accessing the secure data on the account. The methods, apparatus, and systems involve setting a universal reset credential associated with the account, denying the system administrator of the account permission to change the first credential of the access feature, and permitting the system administrator to reset the access feature from the first credential to the universal reset credential.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application relates to, and claims the benefit of the filing dateof, co-pending U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/969,120entitled SECURE PASSWORD CONTROL METHOD, filed Aug. 30, 2007, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to securing access to a useraccount.

Description of the Related Art

The typical electronic mail (email) application allows systemadministrators unrestricted access to email accounts and credentials ofusers, including such components as the user name, or login, andpassword of each user. Typically, the system administrator may havedirect permission to view secure access features, such as passwords andother credentials, of the user. Such permission may allow a systemadministrator to read, edit and delete email messages or other data ofany user without the knowledge of the user. Such access also may allowthe system administrator to send email messages from an email account ofa user even without the permission of the user, which may give theappearance to recipients that the user has sent the email message.

One need is for apparatus, methods, and systems which may control thecredentials of users in a manner, which may prevent systemadministrators from misusing account permissions as well as reducing thethreat of other, unauthorized access. This need and others may apply notjust to email accounts but to other types of data, including financial,credit, and retail accounts, and account types such as instant messagingand Internet Protocol Telephony (IP Phone) that are secured from accessby parties other than a user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention includes a method, apparatus and systems forsecuring access to a user account, wherein the account has at least afirst credential, such as password, set as an access feature forauthenticating the user. The method includes setting a universal resetcredential associated with the account; denying a system administratorof the account permission to access the first credential; and permittingthe system administrator to reset the access feature from the firstcredential to the universal reset credential.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention reference isnow made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for secure credential control in one or moreembodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates details of a credential in one or more embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates the operations of a method of secure credentialcontrol in one or more embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates the operations of at least a portion of a method ofsecure credential control in one or more embodiments; and

FIG. 5 illustrates the operations of another method of secure credentialcontrol in one or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following discussion, numerous specific details are set forth toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However,those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention maybe practiced without such specific details. In other instances,well-known elements have been illustrated in schematic or block diagramform in order not to obscure the present invention in unnecessarydetail. Additionally, for the most part, specific details, and the likehave been omitted inasmuch as such details are not considered necessaryto obtain a complete understanding of the present invention, and areconsidered to be within the understanding of persons of ordinary skillin the relevant art.

It is further noted that, unless indicated otherwise, all functionsdescribed herein may be performed in either hardware or as softwareinstructions for enabling a computer to perform predeterminedoperations, where the software instructions are embodied on anon-transitory computer readable storage medium. In certain embodiments,the predetermined operations of the computer are performed by aprocessor such as a computer or an electronic data processor inaccordance with code such as computer program code, software, and, insome embodiments, integrated circuits that are coded to perform suchfunctions.

It is to be understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art that thesecure credential control method may be implemented in other systemsbesides electronic mail account systems. For example, banking account,credit card account, retail account, or any other set of personal ororganizational data systems that are intended to be securely maintainedmay be further secured by use of the secure credential control methodsand apparatus herein described. The use of an email account as a useraccount is intended as illustrative of the present invention rather thanlimiting the apparatus and methods described herein.

The secure credential control methods, apparatus and systems, in certainembodiments, may track password reset and reactivation of the accountwith a new password. In other embodiments, the disclosed methods may beutilized to track other user credentials such as user loginidentification, private information, or other indicia of identity oraccess to secure systems. The use of passwords as a credential or auniversal reset credential is intended as illustrative rather thanlimiting of the methods and apparatus described herein.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a system 100, in one ormore embodiments, for securing an account of a user. In the system 100,a user 101 may create or modify an account 103, such as an emailaccount, hosted within an email provider 102. The account 103 mayinclude secure data 104, such as email messages. The email provider 102may comprise an email database host 106, which may provide storage spacefor the account 103 and the secure data 104.

The email provider 102 may further comprise a credential database host108. The credential database 108 may host an access feature 109 which isassociated with the account 103 of the user 101. The access feature maybe a form of user input data, where the data authenticates thepermission of the user to access the email account. The access feature109 may include one or more credentials of the user used alone or incombination to authenticate the user. In some cases, the access featuremay be a comprised of credentials such as a password, a biometric, acombination, or a key. One example of an access feature is a user id andpassword. The user id and password may form a credential for gainingaccess to an account. In other examples, a user id may be used inconjunction with a biometric like a retinal scan to gain access tosecure data on an account. It is to be further understood by persons ofordinary skill in the art that biometric systems may include as voice,finger print, and retinal scan, keys may include as electronicencryption keys, numerical codes, and physical keys, RFIDs and otherforms of data, schemes, and algorithms which are found in the art asrelied upon for authentication of users attempting to access secure dataand information. It should be understood by persons of ordinary skillthat credentials may take many forms, such as those included here, thatare known in the art.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the access feature 109 may comprise one ormore credentials, such as a universal reset credential 114, a firstcredential 110 and a second credential 112. The credential database host108 may be further partitioned to separate the universal resetcredential 114 from other credentials (shown in FIG. 1 as firstcredential 110 and second credential 112). In some embodiments, thesecure partition 115 may serve at least to provide a secure location tostore credentials to restrict access from at least a systemadministrator 118. It should be understood by a person of ordinary skillin the art that the secure partition 115 may be implemented internallywithin a processor by software embodied on a computer storage medium orthe secure partition 115 may be physically a separate database host.

In certain embodiments, the account 103 of the user 101 may have auniversal reset credential 114, which may be set as a fallback settingto the access feature 109 and enabled at the time the account 103 iscreated or installed. The system administrator 118 may at any time bepermitted to reset the access feature 109 to the universal resetcredential 114, but the system administrator may not be allowed tochange the access feature 109 back to the original password chosen bythe user. This account set up may prevent the system administrator 118from gaining access to the email account of the user. In one embodiment,the system administrator 118 may be prevented from resetting the accessfeature 109 to a password that only the system administrator 118 mayknow and then changing the access feature 109 back to the originalpassword without the knowledge of the user 101.

The universal reset credential 114 may comprise data used to access theaccount 103 in the case of a change or reset to one or more credentialsis made. Such data may be a password, a key, a combination, or abiometric. In some embodiments, the universal reset credential may alsocomprise data such as the identity of a credential receiver 176.

The credential database host may further comprise other data related tothe credentials 110, 112, and 114 of the user 101. For example, thesecure partition 115 may comprise an event database 117 for storing andrecording event information related to changes in the account. The timeand date of any resets or changes to the account 103 may be stored in asecure table of the event database 117.

The account 103 may be managed by one or more system administrators 118.The functions of the system administrator 118 may be performed by aperson or an electronic entity, such as a processor running softwarecode embodied on computer readable storage medium.

Referring to FIG. 2, the second credential 112 may further comprise afirst part 119 and a second part 120. The first part 119 may comprise acomputer generated code. The second part 120 may comprise an indicia ofidentity for a credential receiver 176. Such indicia may comprise aphone number or an email address. It should be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art that the indicia of identity 120 may take onmany forms of information to identify a credential receiver 176.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the email database host 106 and thecredential database host 108 may be operationally connected by a firstconnection 152 and a second connection 154, respectively, to anapplication host 150. The first connection 152 and the second connection154 may comprise network connections. The system administrator 118 maybe operationally connected to the application host at third connection156, which may also comprise a network connection. The systemadministrator 118 may comprise a terminal or other system input devicefor managing the account 103. It should be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art that a network connection may include anynumber of types of connections, such as secure internet connections,Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security, or non-securenetwork connections.

The connections 152, 154, and 156 may be configured to secure access tosecure data 104 stored on email database host 106 and the access feature109 of the credential database host 108, according to the operationsdisclosed herein in FIGS. 1 and 2. The application host 150 may comprisea server 160 housing at least one processor 162 and a computer readablestorage medium 164. Software, in the form of computer executable code,may be embodied on the computer readable storage medium 164 forexecution on the processor 162. The processor 162 may implement theoperations described herein and disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Further referring to FIG. 1, the application host 150 may beoperationally connected to a computer network 170, such as the internetor a private network, at a fourth connection 172, which may beconfigured for network communications including internet, telephone,cell phone, and other forms of telecommunications. It should beunderstood by a person of ordinary skill in the art that a networkconnection may include any number of types of connections, such assecure internet connections, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and TransportLayer Security, or non-secure network connections. The fourth connection172 may be configured to receive and transmit communications to the user101, to the credential receiver 176, and to a designee 178 of the user101. The user 101 may receive and transmit data to the system 100 by afifth connection 174. The fifth connection 174 may comprise a networkconnection, such as secure internet connections, Secure Socket Layer(SSL) and Transport Layer Security, or non-secure network connections.

In certain embodiments, the second credential 112 may be used by thesystem 100 to access the secure portions of the email account 103, suchas data 104. The second credential 112 may comprise, in part, a sequenceof text characters, which may be generated randomly by a processor orcomputer connected to the system. In one embodiment, a code generator116 operationally connected to the server 160 may provide a codecomprising the first part 119 to the system for use as a portion of thesecond credential 112. For example, access to the email account 103 ofuser 101 may require the user password, as the first credential 110, andthe code randomly generated by the email provider 102, as the secondcredential 112. The email provider 102 may send the code to thecredential receiver 176 enclosed in a message to a cell phone of theuser 101 as a text message. With these two credentials 110 and 112, theuser 101 may authenticate permission to access secure data 104 on theemail account 103.

The user 101 may choose what device or alternate location to designateas the credential receiver 176. It is to be understood by persons ofordinary skill in the art that the credential receiver 176 may be anycommunication device or separate account to which the user 101 hasaccess. For example, the user 101 may receive the first part 119 of thesecond credential 112 at a separate email or to the cell phone of afriend or relative. In some embodiments, the identity of the credentialreceiver 176 comprising the second part 120 may be kept secret from thesystem administrator 118, and the identity of credential receiver 176may form a part of the second credential 112. The universal resetcredential 114 may include data 121 identifying a universal resetcredential receiver.

A notification of change or reset to the second credential 112,including changes to the identity of the credential receiver 176, may besent to a designee of the user 101. The notification may includeinformation related to the change or reset, including time and date andthe new identity of the credential receiver 176.

Referring now to FIG. 3, in an embodiment a method 200 may be employed.At the creation of a new user email account, the user may typicallyspecify a plurality of credentials such as a user name, or login, and anoriginal password (202). These credentials may form at least a portionof the access feature of the account. Such credentials may also bespecified during an account reset where, for example, the user ischanging the user name or some other credential associated with theaccount. Such account resets may also follow security breaches or otherevents that necessitate account changes.

The user may also designate one or more persons or entities to receivenotifications of account changes. For example, the designee 178, asshown in FIG. 1, may be a person that the user 101 designates when theuser 101 first creates an account 103. The designee 178 may have anindicia of identity, such as name, phone, email, or other similardesignator, that is kept secret from the system administrator, who hasthe capability of making account changes and otherwise viewing accountsettings. The indicia of identity may be stored in a partitioned memorystorage, such as secure partition 115, where the system administratormay lack access or permissions to modify.

The designee may receive one or more notifications from the emailprovider 102 indicating to the designee that a change has occurred tothe account. A notification may comprise an email notification relatedto the status of the email account. Other types of notifications mayinclude phone automated calls, text messages, other forms ofnotification that are obvious to a person of ordinary skill.

Optionally, in operation 204, permission to access the original userpassword may be denied to the system administrator. The systemadministrator may be restricted from viewing the user password and maybe restricted from making changes to the user password, depending onaccount settings.

As a user option, a universal reset password may be set and enabled forthe user (206). The user may choose this universal reset password or theuser may allow the account provider to generate it, for example,randomly. The universal reset password may be a credential such as apassword or other text string, biometric, sound, or visual cue that anemail account may utilize to authenticate the user and access theaccount. In certain embodiments, the user has the option to enable thisfeature, and may, at the choice of the user, disable it, as shown inoperation 206.

In embodiments where the universal reset password is enabled, a systemadministrator may have permission to reset the access feature of theaccount from the user password to a universal reset password (208). Theuniversal reset password may be viewed and known to the administrator,allowing him to access the account, for example, in the case that a userhas forgotten the user password or cannot access the account. The systemadministrator, however, may not have permissions to change the universalreset password. The system administrator may be denied permission to setthe access feature back to the original user password from the universalreset password once the account has been reset. Only the user may changethe universal reset password, once the user passed other securitymeasures which may be designed to protect the integrity of the universalreset password.

Also, the administrator may be denied permission to change the userpassword in cases where the universal reset password feature has beenenabled (210). The administrator may be restricted to resetting theaccess feature to the universal reset password (208). A reset may occurwhen the user has neglected to change the user password at theinstruction of the account provider. In one example, when the userrefuses to change the user password after a set amount of time, theaccess feature may be set to null, leaving an account without apassword. At that point, the user may be instructed to choose a newpassword. An administrator may also initiate a reset because of a breachin the account security or in response to a request from the user, when,for example, the user loses his account password or other credential.

In the event of a reset, the user may still access the account throughuse of the universal reset password. The administrator may also accessthe account through the universal reset password, but be restricted frommaking any other change to the access feature. In this way, theadministrator may not take unauthorized control of the account bychanging the access feature from the user password to a password onlywithin the knowledge of the administrator.

If the universal reset password feature is not set and enabled atoperation 206, normal email account operation may continue at operation212. In an account where the universal reset password is not enabled,the administrator may maintain permission to unilaterally change thepassword to a configuration that the administrator may choose.

The email account may be monitored at operation 214 for a change to theuser password. A password change may differ from a reset to the passwordin that a reset occurs at an administrative level, usually initiated bythe system administrator. A change to the user password may comprise achange initiated by the user, as part of a personal practice or as aresponse to a breach in the security in the user password. In somecases, a change to the user password may be initiated by an unauthorizedthird party, including the system administrator. A change to the userpassword may also be initiated by the account provider, as part of aregular practice to have users change their passwords periodically.

As a further feature of the method 200, the date and time, and otherrelated information, of any change in the password or other accountsetting may be recorded and stored in a secure environment at operation216. In some embodiments, the recording of the date and time may betriggered when the system administrator changes the user password,whether the system administrator has permission or not. Or the recordingmay occur when an unauthorized third party accesses or attempts toaccess a secure portion of the email account. The data relating to thechange in password may be stored in a table (such as in event database117 as shown in FIG. 1) on computer readable medium, on a network, or inanother environment that is separate and secured from access by thirdparties, such as the system administrator.

A notification to the user informing the user that the user password hasbeen changed may also be sent to the user and the designee of the user(218). The notification may be an email, a text message, a phone orvoicemail message, or other form of notification. The user may designateone or more persons or institutions to monitor notifications sent fromthe account that flag changes in the account or attempts to access thesecure portion of the email account. Thereafter, the method 200 maycontinue normal email account operation at operation 212.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an alternative embodiment forthe configuration and role of notifications used in the methods hereindescribed. In certain embodiments, the system 100 (as shown in FIG. 1)in operations 217 and 218 of FIGS. 3 and 4 may also include a requestfor the acknowledgement of the user or the designee as a recipient ofthe notification. Upon a detection of an attempt to change or reset acredential, such as a password, as in operation 250, an emailnotification may be sent to the user or designee of the user (252). Therecipient may be required to actively or passively acknowledge thereceipt of the notification, and, in some embodiments, approve ordisapprove of the change in account settings (254). If noacknowledgement is required, the system may continue normal operation(256).

In certain embodiments, a response to the acknowledgement may berequested from the recipient of the notification (258). The response maycomprise a passive positive response, such as a read receipt generatedautomatically when the recipient reads or opens the notification, in thecase of an email. The system 100 may consider a non-response as areceived negative passive response and may inhibit the account until therecipient opens or access the notification.

The acknowledgement may also comprise a request for a positive ornegative active response required from the recipient and received by theemail provider. For example, the recipient may approve of the reset tothe first or second credential by responding to the email with anotheremail or a phone call. The email provider may receive this response andinterpret it as an indication to continue with the change to theaccount. Or, alternatively, the recipient may actively reject the resetby sending a message to the provider, which, in some embodiments, maycause the email provider to inhibit the account (260), upon the receiptof the message.

Inhibiting the account (260) may comprise freezing all account activityuntil the user meets further security measures, returning the account topre-change or reset settings, or alerting other personnel within theemail provider of a potential breach in security. It is to be understoodthat inhibiting the account may comprise any number of combination ofactivities which may, in some cases, prevent a breach in security.

A positive response, whether active or passive, may approve of thechange and allow the normal operations to continue (256).

Referring now to FIG. 5, a method 200′ may be employed for securing auser account, such as an email account. At the creation of a new useremail account, the user may typically specify a user name, or login, andan original user password, and designate a person or entity to receivenotifications of account changes (202). These components may form anaccess feature that allows the user to authenticate his permission toaccess the secure data stored in the account. In some embodiments,access to the access feature may be denied to the system administrator(204). For example, the system administrator may be denied permission tochange the original user password.

Optionally, a universal reset password may be enabled for the user andset by the user (206). In embodiments where the universal reset passwordis enabled, a system administrator may be permitted to reset the accessfeature from the original password to a universal reset password (208).Also, the administrator may be denied permission to change the originalpassword in cases where the universal reset password feature has beenenabled (210). In the case where the access feature is reset to theuniversal reset password, the system administrator may be deniedpermission to change the access back to the original password. If theuniversal reset password feature is not set and enabled at operation206, normal email account operation may continue at operation 212.

Further referring to FIG. 5, as an on-going process, the user passwordmay be monitored by the email provider to determine whether the userpassword has been reset (213). The user password may be reset by thesystem administrator as a function of a maintenance procedure, such asif the user has the user password, or if a new system administrator hasbeen appointed and has consequently changed the universal resetpassword, or any other procedure that may require the systemadministrator reset the user password.

If the user password has been reset, the date and time of the passwordreset event may be recorded and stored in a secure table that may beavailable for inspection by the user (215). Other related informationsuch as the IP address of the party accessing the email account, thenumber of failed attempts to access the account, or what information wasaccessed following the change may also be recorded to the secure table.The secure table may be secured from access by the system administratoror other individuals or entities. A notification, such as by email, maybe sent to the user and the designee of the user informing the partiesthat the user password has been reset (217). As described above inreference to FIG. 4, the notification may request an acknowledgementwhich may elicit a passive or active response from the recipient (254).

After a password reset, the user may be required to enter a new passwordthe next time the user accesses the account. The user may be asked toenter the user password and then enter a new password to, verify that noone else has been able to access the email account of the user, andtherefore no one else been able to read the email messages of the useror send email messages from the user's email account. After the userenters a new password at operation 219, the method 200′ may continuenormal email account operation at operation 212.

Even if the user password has not been reset at operation 213, theaccount may be monitored to determine whether the user password has beenchanged at operation 214. A change to the user password may comprise achange initiated by the user, as part of a personal practice or as aresponse to a breach in the security in the user password. In somecases, a change to the user password may be initiated by an unauthorizedthird party, including the system administrator. A change to the userpassword may also be initiated by the account provider, as part of aregular practice to have users change their passwords periodically.

If the user password has been changed, the date and time of the passwordchange may be recorded and stored in a secure table that may beavailable for inspection by the user (216). Other related informationsuch as the IP address of the party accessing the account, the number offailed attempts to access the account, or what information was accessedfollowing the change may be included in the secure table. The securetable may be secured from the account system administrator or otherindividuals or entities. A notification, such as by email, may be sentto the user and the designee of the user informing the parties that theuser password has been reset (218). As described above in reference toFIG. 4, the notification may request an acknowledgement which may elicita passive or active response from the recipient. Thereafter, the method200′ may continue normal email account operation at operation 212.

In some embodiments, a code comprising at least a portion of the secondcredential may be reset to the universal reset credential in a mannersimilar to the reset of the first credential. For example, the systemadministrator may be denied permission to access the second credential.The system administrator may be permitted to reset the portion of theaccess feature relating to the second credential to the universal resetcredential. In other embodiments, the code may be regenerated by thegenerator and resent to the credential receiver.

In certain embodiments, the universal reset credential may includeindicia identifying a universal reset credential receiver. In somecases, the credential receiver may be reset to the universal resetcredential receiver. For example, should the user lose the credentialreceiver, such as a cell phone, the user may request that the systemadministrator reset the credential receiver to the universal resetcredential receiver, which may be a personal email address. The user mayuse the universal reset credential receiver to receive the randomlygenerated code, which may comprise at least a portion of the secondcredential. In addition, the system administrator may be restricted fromresetting the user designated credential receiver to only the universalreset credential receiver. This may add another level of security orprevent the system administrator from sending the second credential,such as the random code, to a location at the exclusive control of thesystem administrator.

Having thus described the present invention by reference to certain ofits preferred embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments disclosedare illustrative rather than limiting in nature and that a wide range ofvariations, modifications, changes, and substitutions are contemplatedin the foregoing disclosure and, in some instances, some features of thepresent invention may be employed without a corresponding use of theother features. Many such variations and modifications may be considereddesirable by those skilled in the art based upon a review of theforegoing description of preferred embodiments. Accordingly, it isappropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in amanner consistent with the scope of the invention.

We claim:
 1. A method for securing access to an account of a user,wherein the account comprises at least a first credential set as atleast a portion of an access feature in a credential database forauthenticating the user, the method comprising: permitting the user toset a universal reset credential associated with the account that isstored in the credential database; permitting a system administrator ofthe account, who is not the user, to reset the access feature from thefirst credential in the credential database to the universal resetcredential in the credential database without input across a computernetwork from the user; denying the system administrator of the account,who is not the user, permission to change the first credential of theaccess feature in the credential database, wherein the first credentialof the access feature is not known by the system administrator andwherein the first credential is within a secure area of the credentialdatabase restricting access from the system administrator to the firstcredential, wherein the system administrator is restricted from viewingthe first credential; and denying the system administrator of theaccount permission to change the universal reset credential that isstored in the credential database; denying the system administratorpermission to change the access feature from the universal resetcredential to the first credential not known by the systemadministrator, after the universal reset credential is set; and denyinguse of the first credential of the access feature, after the universalreset credential is set, wherein the system administrator is restrictedto resetting the access feature to the universal reset credential. 2.The method of claim 1, the method further comprising: recordinginformation related to a change to the first credential in a securedatabase; and sending a notification of the change to the firstcredential.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein sending a notificationcomprises requesting from the user a first response to the notificationwhich indicates approval or disapproval of the change to the firstcredential.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first credential is apassword.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first credential isselected from the group of a biometric, a key, and a combination.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, the method further comprising: recording informationrelated to a reset of the first credential in a secure database; andsending a notification of the reset of the first credential.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein sending a notification comprises requestingfrom the user a second response to the notification which indicatesapproval or disapproval of the reset to the first credential.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further comprising: denying the system administratorof the account permission to access a second credential set as at leasta portion of the access feature, wherein the second credential comprisesa credential receiver and a code; and permitting the systemadministrator to reset the access feature from the second credential tothe universal reset credential.
 9. The method of claim 8, the methodfurther comprising: recording information related to a change to thesecond credential in the secure database; and sending a notification ofthe change to the second credential.
 10. The method of claim 9, whereinsending a notification comprises requesting from the user a response tothe notification which indicates approval or disapproval of the changeto the second credential.
 11. A computer program product for enabling acomputer to secure access to an account of a user, wherein the accountcomprises at least a first credential set as at least a portion of anaccess feature for authenticating the user, the computer program productcomprising: software instructions for enabling a computer to performpredetermined operations; and a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium bearing the software instructions; the predetermined operationsincluding: permitting the user to set a universal reset credentialassociated with the account that is stored in a credential database;permitting a system administrator of the account, who is not the user,to reset the access feature from the first credential in the credentialdatabase to the universal reset credential in the credential databasewithout input across a computer network from the user; denying thesystem administrator of the account, who is not the user, permission tochange the first credential of the access feature, wherein the firstcredential of the access feature is not known by the systemadministrator and wherein the first credential is within a secure areaof the credential database restricting access from the systemadministrator to the first credential, wherein the system administratoris restricted from viewing the first credential; denying the systemadministrator of the account permission to change the universal resetcredential that is stored in the credential database; denying the systemadministrator of the account permission to change the access featurefrom the universal reset credential to the first credential not known bythe system administrator, after the universal reset credential is set;and denying use of the first credential, after the resetting the accessfeature from the first credential in the credential database to theuniversal reset credential, wherein the system administrator isrestricted to resetting the access feature to the universal resetcredential.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein thepredetermined operations further include: recording information relatedto a change to the first credential in a secure database; and sending anotification of the change to the user and a designee of the user. 13.The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the first credentialis a password.
 14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein thefirst credential is selected from the group of a biometric, a key, and acombination.
 15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein thepredetermined operations further include: recording information relatedto a reset of the first credential in a secure database; and sending anotification of the reset of the first credential.
 16. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein the predetermined operationsfurther include: denying the system administrator of the accountpermission to access a second credential set as at least a portion ofthe access feature, wherein the second credential comprises a credentialreceiver chosen by the user and a pass code; and permitting the systemadministrator to reset the at least a portion of the access feature fromthe second credential to the universal reset credential.
 17. Thecomputer program product of claim 16, the method further comprising:recording information related to a change of the portion of the accessfeature relating to the second credential in a secure location; andsending a notification of the change to the access feature portion. 18.A method for securing access to an account of a user, wherein theaccount comprises at least a first credential set as at least a portionof an access feature in a credential database for authenticating theuser, the method comprising: permitting the user to set a universalreset credential associated with the account that is stored in thecredential database; permitting a system administrator of the account,who is not the user, to reset the access feature from the firstcredential in the credential database to the universal reset credentialin the credential database without input across a computer network fromthe user; denying the system administrator of the account, who is notthe user, permission to change the first credential of the accessfeature that is stored in the credential database, wherein the firstcredential of the access feature is not known by the systemadministrator and wherein the first credential is within a secure of thecredential database restricting access from system administrator to thefirst credential, wherein the system administrator is restricted fromviewing the first credential; denying the system administratorpermission to change the access feature from the universal resetcredential to the first credential not known by the system administratorand in the credential database; denying the system administratorpermission to change the universal reset credential that is stored inthe credential database; denying use of the first credential of theaccess feature, after the resetting the access feature from the firstcredential in the credential database to the universal reset credential,wherein the system administrator is restricted to resetting the accessfeature to the universal reset credential; recording information relatedto a change to the first credential in a secure table; electronicallysending a notification of the change to the first credential to theuser; recording information related to a reset of the first credentialin the secure table; and electronically sending a notification of thereset of the first credential to the user.
 19. A method for securingaccess to an email account of a user, the method comprising: requiringthe user to provide a first password to access the email account priorto a requiring the user to provide a universal reset password;permitting the user to set the universal reset password associated withthe email account to be stored in a credential database; denying asystem administrator of the email account, who is not the user,permission to view the first password; denying the system administratorof the email account permission to change the first password; permittingthe system administrator of the email account to view the universalreset password; denying the system administrator of the email accountpermission to change the universal reset password stored in thecredential database; and permitting the system administrator of theemail account, without input from the user, to require the user toprovide the universal reset password stored in the credential database,rather than the first password, to access the email account; denying thesystem administrator permission to require the user to provide the firstpassword after the requiring the user to provide the universal resetpassword; and denying the system administrator permission to provide thefirst credential to access the email account after the requiring theuser to provide the universal reset password.
 20. The method of claim 1,wherein the universal reset credential stored in the credential databasecomprises at least one of a password, a key, a combination, a biometric,and an identity of a credential receiver.
 21. The computer programproduct of claim 11, wherein the universal reset credential comprises atleast one of a password, a key, a combination, a biometric, and anidentity of a credential receiver.
 22. The method of claim 18, whereinthe universal reset credential comprises at least one of a password, akey, a combination, a biometric, and an identity of a credentialreceiver.